National Basketball Association

Lakers fall to Kings, face Golden State next

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

SacramentoKings116

Los AngelesLakers104

Amid much hype, the Los Angeles Lakers have yet to fully take off.

D’Angelo Russell has shown he can give all he’s got on any given night for Los Angeles — at least they know that much.

Outside of that, Luke Walton still seems to be trying to figure out which lineup combinations work best.

Against Sacramento on Thursday night, Russell scored a game and team high 31 points.

Jordan Clarkson was the only other Lakers player in double figures, scoring 18, while Nick Young and Luol came close with nine points, respectively.

Brandon Ingram got plenty of time of the floor, accumulating 28 minutes of playing time and contributing seven points in the loss.

One of the surprises from this game was the lack of production from Julius Randle. Although he got the most playing time of any Los Angeles player — 32 minutes — he only scored six points.

31 points on 10/14 shooting (5/6 from deep) for D'Angelo Russell in @Lakers #NBApreseason action. pic.twitter.com/JGsigw79UY

— NBA (@NBA) October 14, 2016

Collectively, the Lakers shot 46.5% from the field, scoring on 14 of their 35 three-point attempts.

Anthony Tulliver was great for the Kings, leading his team in scoring with 21 points off the bench.

Sacramento shot just under 60% from the field, proving to be the difference late in the game. They also out-shot the Lakers from beyond the arc, leaving a positive impression with over 60% of their shots from there going on.

Los Angeles did a good job controlling their turnovers, allowing five less than the Kings throughout the game.

Where the Lakers need to really show improvement is their rebounding ability. After their latest loss, it’s been made clear that the area of rebounding will be where the most attention is needed.

With time it will surely figure itself out, but Luke Walton should know by now what it’ll take for his team to win on a nightly basis.

Up next for Los Angeles is the Golden State Warriors, as they try to climb back to .500 in the preseason.